London Socialist Historians Group
Media Release 17th March
Contact Dr Keith Flett 07803 167266
Historians say Government plan for new History Curriculum has more questions than answers
The London Socialist Historians Group, which organises the socialist history seminar at the Institute of Historical Research, University of London has said that a Government plan for a new school history curriculum announced today raises more questions than it provides answers to.
The plan is included in an Inclusive Britain report which is the Government’s response to Dr Tony Sewell’s report on racial disparity in the UK. The report was widely criticised and the Government has recognised some of this while now making its own recommendations.
The plan for a new history curriculum by 2024 is at 5.1 of the report. It says in part:
To help pupils understand the intertwined nature of British and global history, and their own place within it, the DfE will work with history curriculum experts, historians and school leaders to develop a Model History curriculum by 2024 that will stand as an exemplar for a knowledge-rich, coherent approach to the teaching of history.
The historians say the headline detail raises a number of questions:
1 While Boris Johnson often says he is in favour of telling the story of all of British history with nothing left out in practice this often seems to mean downplaying or overlooking ‘awkward’ parts of that history related to Britain’s imperial past and present.
2 A second concern is that issues arising from Britain’s colonial and imperial history are regarded as being entirely in the past with no recognition that many still have an important impact in the present day.
3 It is unclear who the history experts will be who will assist in the development of the new curriculum. The Government has a record of excluding historians whose views it does not like or disagrees with. Those drawing up the new curriculum must themselves be an inclusive body.
LSHG Convenor Dr Keith Flett said, the Government’s record on British history has tended to be all about Churchill and protecting statues of slave traders. If they are at all serious about plans for a new curriculum that will need to change significantly.
Leave a Reply